Hi y’all from the south of USA, this week we have visited Florida, Alabama and Mississippi and we have definitely experienced three different cultures and dialects. When in Florida everyone would finish their sentences with yes sir or yes ma’am.  At first we couldn’t work out why and thought because Florida is so pro guns, that you never knew who was packing heat, but it is just their way of being polite and respectful.  In Alabama their southern accent is very distinct and we did have trouble initially getting used to it and in Mississippi we had to get used to everything being y’all..

We attended the Olustee Battle Festival and Re-enactment, we decided to attend this particular battle as it is the biggest re-enactment in Florida with over 2000 participants.  It was the biggest one we have visited and the whole park is transformed into a township with all the stores and services you would see in the 1860s with all participants dressed in period costumes.

There is a surge in the younger generation participating in these activies and they spend a lot of money on ensuring that they are dressed and geared up appropriately.  We saw whole groups of families involved as well.  The stores all provide authentic gear from dresses, hats, belt and all the tools etc required.  We spent some time with some younger confederate soldiers and they were happy to find Digby some gear and let him participate if he wanted, but someone needed to take the photographs.

From there we decided to travel along the Mexico Gulf Coast but to our surprise the beach particularly Mexico Beach was devasted by Hurricane Michael in 2018 and the recovery of buildings and the beach is very slow. 

We popped over to the beautiful Pensacola Beach but as we drove over the bridge, we were enveloped in a thick fog which was still thick at 4 pm but we could imagine it would be a beautiful beach.  

There were some really great coloured houses and artwork at St George Island.

We spent a morning exploring the USS Alabama in Mobile which was interesting once you see the size of the ship.

We also visited the seaside town of Biloxi which is a pretty town and would have been prettier if it wasn’t pouring rain but we did get to see the shrimp boats which are famous down south.

Next week we are in New Orleans for the Mardi Gras which we are looking forward to.